Harvick had just made his final green-flag stop for tire and fuel to make it to the finish when Christopher Bell and Ross Chastain wrecked on Lap 160 of 200 to bring out a caution.
All of the lead-lap cars ahead of Harvick elected to pit but he and his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford stayed out and inherited the lead.
On the ensuring restart, Harvick got a great jump on the field to clear for the lead and spent the final 37 laps cruising to the win without serious challenge. He took the checkered flag 2.9 seconds ahead of Bubba Wallace.
Harvick’s last NASCAR Cup Series victory came Sept. 19, 2020 at Bristol, Tenn. – a span of 65 races. It was the second-longest winless streak of his career.
With the victory, Harvick advances to the 16-driver playoffs and he makes the 15th different driver to win a race this season with three remaining in the regular season.
“We’ve had several good runs the last few weeks – Loudon (N.H.), Pocono where the car ran good but we didn’t have everything work out. I’m just really proud of everybody on our team,” said Harvick, who earned his 59th career win, which is 10th all-time in the Cup Series. “They’ve worked all year long trying to make these Mustangs run faster.
“My guys have done a great job to take what we have, maximize it and do the things we need to do. I’m just really proud of everyone at Stewart-Haas Racing.”
Asked if he or his team ever doubted themselves, Harvick said: “Everybody who doubted us didn’t know us.”
Denny Hamlin rallied from a late pit road penalty to finish third, Joey Logano was fourth and Ryan Blaney rounded out the top-five.
Completing the top-10 were Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Larson, Erik Jones, Alex Bowman and Ty Gibbs, who was substituting for the injured Kurt Busch for the third consecutive race.
Stage 3
During the break between Stages 2 and 3, several lead-lap cars pit but Daniel Suarez was among those who stayed out and inherited the lead. Larson was penalized for speeding on pit road and had to restart from the rear of the field.
On the restart on Lap 127, Suarez was followed by Bell, Austin Dillon, Logano, Ross Chastain and Harvick.
With 50 laps remaining, Suarez held on to the lead with his Trackhouse teammate Chastain right behind him. Hamlin ran third, Bell fourth and Harvick fifth.
On Lap 153, Austin Dillon and Chase Briscoe kicked off a final round of green-flag pit stops to take on new tires and fuel to make it to the finish of the race.
Suarez and…
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